Switched digital video (SDV) technology, also refereed to as switched digital broadcast or SDB, allows a cable TV system to decide which channels should be streaming at a given time without needing to allocate bandwidth for all channels streaming simultaneously. It provides some bandwidth dedicated to static or guaranteed channels (that will stream regardless of network state) and other bandwidth dedicated to switch channels (that can come up and go down in response to channel change requests/responses and network conditions). In providing content to consumers, traditional SDV architecture relies on a binary operation—either a bandwidth pipe can accommodate another channel or not. As a result, when the bandwidth pipe cannot fit another channel requested by user(s), they cannot watch the requested content, which is an unacceptable user experience.
Further, consumers are increasingly expecting flexible behavior from their video service, including on-demand offerings via SDV platforms, to enhance their viewing options. However, traditional cable environments supporting a single bitrate of content are largely unsuitable for providing a rich user experience.